Google co-founders Sergey Brin, right, and Larry Page speak with reporters during Googles Press Day on Wednesday, May 10, 2006, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, FILE)
Posted on 06/06/2006 5:34:17 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin acknowledged Tuesday the dominant Internet company has compromised its principles by accommodating Chinese censorship demands. He said Google is wrestling to make the deal work before deciding whether to reverse course.
Meeting with reporters near Capitol Hill, Brin said Google had agreed to the censorship demands only after Chinese authorities blocked its service in that country. Google's rivals accommodated the same demands — which Brin described as "a set of rules that we weren't comfortable with" — without international criticism, he said.
"We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles but provide ultimately more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service and perhaps make more of a difference," Brin said.
Brin also addressed Internet users' expectations of privacy in an era of increased government surveillance, saying Americans misunderstand the limited safeguards of their personal electronic information.
"I think it's interesting that the expectations of people with respect to what happens to their data seems to be different than what is actually happening," he said.
Google has battled the U.S. Justice Department in court seeking to limit the amount of information the government can get about users' Internet searches. It also says it has not participated in any programs with the National Security Agency to collect Internet communications without warrants.
Google's free e-mail service is among the Internet's most popular.
Brin visited Washington to ask U.S. senators to approve a plan that would prevent telephone and cable companies from collecting premium fees from companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! for faster delivery of their services. Brin, dressed casually in jeans, sneakers and a black sport jacket, said he wasn't sure whether he changed any lawmakers' minds.
Google's China-approved Web service omits politically sensitive information that might be retrieved during Internet searches, such as details about the 1989 suppression of political unrest in Tiananmen Square. Its agreement with China has provoked considerable criticism from human rights groups.
"Perhaps now the principled approach makes more sense," Brin said.
The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday that Google's main Web site, http://www.google.com, was no longer accessible in most Chinese provinces due to censorship efforts, and that it was completely inaccessible throughout China on May 31.
Brin said Google is trying to improve its censored search service, Google.cn, before deciding whether to reverse course. He said virtually all the company's customers in China use the non-censored service.
"It's perfectly reasonable to do something different, to say, 'Look, we're going to stand by the principle against censorship and we won't actually operate there.' That's an alternate path," Brin said. "It's not where we chose to go right now, but I can sort of see how people came to different conclusions about doing the right thing."
Google co-founders Sergey Brin, right, and Larry Page speak with reporters during Googles Press Day on Wednesday, May 10, 2006, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, FILE)
I recall their original position being that this was not inconsistent with their "do no evil" pledge. Now the story is that they are trying to make the bad situation work, which acknowledges that the situation is bad, which is just google-speak for some evils are more equal than others.
They might drop their drawers and bent over for the Red Chinese but Goggle has always stood up to conservative and Republican Americans. How "courageous" of them. Dirtbags.
Typical of these liberal Internet-related corporations, many of which are based in the San Francisco Bay area (now THERE'S a surprise!!). Several similar companies have also done this - Microsoft, Yahoo, and Cisco also come to mind.
I think this extends beyond the "usual" motive of trying to "make a buck". I don't even think it is about trying to "reach out" in some sort of mis-guided "hands across the water - you are no different from us" type of thing. I think the captains of these corporations actually sympathize and agree with the Chinese Communists they capitulate to. Deep in their hearts, they LIKE the Chinese government, maybe even better than they like their own government.
This is why they have no problem "cooperating" with their much-admired friends in China, but have so much trouble cooperating with our own government in trying to stop the enemies on our very doorstep. I would imagine that if there had not been a backlash against their activities, or if they could have kept them secret, they would have been more than happy to continue "assisting" the Chinese with their repression.
As someone pointed out earlier, they certainly seem to have no qualms about supressing Conservative or Christian ideals. However, I guess that given who and what they are, that is to be expected.
Liberals always sell their souls.
I bet you can't search these out with Red Star Google. I wonder
how much longer they'll be searchable on American Google.
The Tragic History of June 4, 1989 Captured on Camera
Google defies their corporate motto "Do no evil"!!
Use this instead:
http://Search.MSN.com
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